Exo (band)

Exo is a South Korean-Chinese boy band produced by S.M. Entertainment. Formed in 2012 in Seoul, South Korea, Exo has of twelve members, which are separated into two subgroups, Exo-K and Exo-M, promoting their music in both South Korea and China. Their name was taken from exoplanet,a term referring to planets outside of the Solar System. Their debut single Mama was released on April 8, 2012, followed by the release of their debut EP Mama on April 9, 2012.

2011: Formation

In January 2011, producer Lee Soo-Man of SM Entertainment announced his plans to debut a new boy band in March or April 2011.Temporarily named M1, the group appeared to have consisted of only seven members when a photo of them in a dance studio was leaked online.In May 2011, Lee spoke about the group in a Hallyu business seminar held in Stanford University. In the presentation, he explained his strategy of separating the whole group into two subgroups, M1 and M2, to have them promote the same music in South Korea and China, performing the songs in Korean and Mandarin.Lee planned to launch the group in May 2011 but their debut was delayed and news concerning the group did not surface until October 2011 when Lee briefly discussed about the group's concept plans in an interview with The Chosun Ilbo.

In December 2011, the group finalised their name to Exo, with the names Exo-K for the South Korean subgroup and Exo-M for the Chinese subgroup. The twelve members were introduced individually through twenty-three different trailers released from December 2011 to February 2012.Kai, Lu Han, Tao, and Chen were the first four members introduced, who debuted their first public performance at the SBS's Gayo Daejun event on December 29, 2011.

2012–present: Debut, Mama

Exo-K and Exo-M's prologue single What Is Love was released on January 30, 2012 through iTunes and various online retailers from China and South Korea.The single peaked at number eighty-eight on South Korea's Gaon Single Chart. On March 9, the group released their second prologue single History,which was written and produced by Thomas Troelsen and Remee. The single peaked at number sixty-eight on the Gaon Single Chart and number six on China's Sina Music Chart.

A concert showcase for the group was held in Seoul's Olympic Stadium on March 31, which was a hundred days after Exo debuted their first trailer on December 21, 2011.Approximately 3,000 fans from 8,000 applicants were selected to attend the showcase.A second showcase was held in the Great Hall of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China on April 1.

Exo-K and Exo-M released their debut single Mama on April 8 followed by an EP, Mama on April 9. On the 8th April, Exo-K made their debut performance on South Korea's music program The Music Trend, while Exo-M performed at China's 12th Yinyue Fengyun Bang Awards on the same day.A day after release, Mama reached number one on various Chinese online retailers and music charts.Exo-M's album reached number two on China's Sina Album Chart, number five on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart and at number twelve on the Billboard World Albums Chart.Exo-K's album peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart and at number eight on the Billboard World Albums Chart. Exo-M's Mama music video got to number one on Chinese streaming websites and Exo-K's version reached to number seven on YouTube's Global Chart.